Amy father in ‘angel’ tribute

London, July 26: Mitch Winehouse paid a final tribute to his daughter Amy Winehouse at her funeral today, telling her: “Goodnight my angel, sleep tight, mummy and daddy love you ever so much.”

In his moving speech, the 60-year old paid tribute to Amy’s sense of humour and “fantastic recovery”, telling stories from her childhood.

He said that she had been the happiest she had been for many years, and was looking forward to a shared future with boyfriend Reg Traviss.

He said that he spoke to her minutes before he set off for New York — where he was when news of the 27-year-old’s death broke — and that he spoke to her “three times a day” while he was there.

At the end of the service, Amy’s favourite song, So Far Away by Carole King, was played and Mitch encouraged guests to sing along. The first song Amy and Mitch sung together was another King hit You’ve Got A Friend.

Family spokesman Chris Goodman said: “So Far Away was her favourite song. Mitch encouraged people to sing to it which they did.

“There were plenty of anecdotes. There were prayers, meditation, Mitch’s eulogy and then more prayers.

“Mitch was funny, he told some jokes about her childhood and how headstrong she was.

“A lot of the family members recognised the stories and laughed along. Mitch stressed many times that she was happier now than she had been in many years. He spoke a lot about her fantastic recovery.”

Asked if her boyfriend Reg Traviss had been mentioned in his words, he said: “Mitch paid tribute to a lot of people in her life. He said that she was very much looking forward to their future together.”

Asked how Amy’s mother Janis and older brother coped during the service, he went on: “There were a lot of tears. They were emotional. It was happy and it was sad.”

The service, in both Hebrew and English, was led by Rabbi Frank Hellner. One guest, Alfie Ezekiel, who knows Mitch from their love of football, described his friend’s eulogy as “very moving”.

The 55-year old from Loughton, Essex, said: “Mitch gave a very good eulogy. He managed to get through it, he did very well considering. He said everything, but I don’t want to go into detail. His last words were ‘goodnight to my angel’. The atmosphere was joyful, it celebrated her life and it was also moving.”